1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to information obtaining method, apparatus, and program for obtaining information of a peripheral apparatus.
2. Related Background Art
Hitherto, various systems have been proposed as systems for providing a status information obtaining method whereby an information processing apparatus as a master apparatus side obtains status information showing a present status of a peripheral apparatus as a slave apparatus side.
For example, in a system in which a host computer and a printer are connected, in order to allow the host computer to obtain information regarding a status of the printer, generally, there is used a method whereby a printer information obtaining request command is issued from the host computer by using a forward direction channel to the printer and printer information is returned from the printer by using a backward direction channel to the host computer by using a bidirectional interface.
For example, in a printer having a plurality of interfaces, a method whereby by allowing the printer status to be included in a device ID, while a print job is being executed by one interface, the printer information can be obtained from another interface has been disclosed (refer to Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. H08-185286).
An object for reflecting the printer information to various processes at the time of forming print job data can be mentioned as a method of obtaining the printer information.
However, in dependence on a type of OS which operates on the host computer, there is a case where the timing when the communication channels in forward direction and the backward direction can be used is limited to the timing when the print job data is formed and transferred to the printer. In that case, there is a problem that the printer information cannot be obtained at earlier timing, for example, timing before the print job data is formed, before a print job is activated from an application, or the like.